# Which 1960s songs are very danceable? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 6, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245 "2009-12-06T23:17:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/21 "2009-12-15T16:26:40Z")
The Beatles? Most of their songs aren’t really dance music. Of course, you still dance to a lot of them, but with a few notable exceptions (“Twist and Shout,” for example) they’re not really dance music. (As **Cecil** once said, Don McLean was arguably referring to this when he said that the “sergeants played a marching tune.” I’d say that the 60s were characterized by a lot of popular music that was NOT very danceable. This is in contrast to the big band music of the 20s to 50s and the disco era of the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/22 "2009-12-15T16:32:59Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Every uptempo Motown song from the decade. Go for the Supremes, the Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, the Miracles, the Four Tops and so on, and everybody will dance like crazy. Agreed. Also, a lot of the Spector produced stuff, like the Ronettes’ Be My Baby, the Crystals’ He’s a Rebel, Da Doo Run Run, He’s Sure the Boy I Love. The Wahtusi, by the Orlons (or the Ronettes or the Miracles, if you prefer). ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/23 "2009-12-15T16:35:52Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > The Beatles? Most of their songs aren’t really dance music. Of course, you still dance to a lot of them, but with a few notable exceptions (“Twist and Shout,” for example) they’re not really dance music. (As **Cecil** once said, Don McLean was arguably referring to this when he said that the “sergeants played a marching tune.” > > I’d say that the 60s were characterized by a lot of popular music that was NOT very danceable. This is in contrast to the big band music of the 20s to 50s and the disco era of the 70s. The early & mid 60’s produced the most danceable music. Psychedelia was more suited to sitting around in a haze or just writhing semi-rhythmically. Out of the UK, _early_ Beatles & Stones will mostly work. From the US, Motown & other R&B will mostly work. Plus many hits already mentioned–sometimes by one-hit wonders. The Beach Boys, of course. Clue: It’s got a beat & you can dance to it! ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/24 "2009-12-15T16:50:51Z")
Louie, Louie? We ‘danced’ to that in the high school gym. I do remember James Brown being played at clubs, and I do remember marathon dancing to “Cold Sweat” - sort of like at a proto-rave, only fueled by Boones Farm Apple Wine instead of chemicals from the Mexican drug cartel. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/25 "2009-12-15T18:52:15Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > The early & mid 60’s produced the most danceable music. Psychedelia was more suited to sitting around in a haze or just writhing semi-rhythmically. Out of the UK, _early_ Beatles & Stones will mostly work. This goes far beyond just the influence of psychedelia. The folk tunes of the 60s, for example, weren’t really danceable. Nor would it be easy to dance to the music of many other big 60s groups, such as the Mamas and the Papas. I do agree that the most danceable Beatles music came from their earlier years, though – the ones that were most reminiscent of the bygone 50s. Were they mostly danceable? Maybe in the sense that you could manage to dance to them, but I wouldn’t really call most of it dance music. I’d say that the most obvious example of a danceable Beatles song is “Twist and Shout.” Notably though, it was not originally a Beatles tune. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/26 "2009-12-15T18:53:29Z")
BTW, I do think that the most danceable 60s music came out of Motown. What’s more, Motown music doesn’t typically require a lot of dance skill. Just about anybody can do the Temptation walk, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/27 "2009-12-15T19:05:45Z")
Can you cheat into 1970? That way you could throw a little George Clinton/Parliament/Funkadelic at some bitches and get all funked up. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/28 "2009-12-15T19:48:23Z")
Hang On Sloopy Gloria (G-L-O-R-I-A, Gloria) Who Do You Love? Louie Louie Twist It (Bend Over Let Me See You Shake a Tail Feather) (Actually almost anything with “Twist” in the title) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2009, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/29 "2009-12-15T20:19:10Z")
It’s been mentioned, but must be emphasized: _Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na Na na na na_ - Land of 1000 Dances (Wilson Pickett) ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245/30 "2009-12-16T06:47:11Z")
You are going to leave out the Cha Cha? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-1960s-songs-are-very-danceable/520245.md?page=1)